And now, shooting the messenger: the stewards of American government and industry are shocked, shocked to discover that a map of the country's physical communications infrastructure can be compiled from public sources:

When Gorman and Schintler presented their findings to government officials, McCarthy recalled, "they said, 'Pssh, let's scarf this up and classify it.' "

And when they presented them at a forum of chief information officers of the country's largest financial services companies -- clicking on a single cable running into a Manhattan office, for example, and revealing the names of 25 telecommunications providers -- the executives suggested that Gorman and Schintler not be allowed to leave the building with the laptop.

Because the work -- Gorman's Ph.D. thesis -- would only exist on the laptop, and not, say, on backup tapes elsewhere. And, of course, no one less well-intentioned could ever redo the same.

via Daily Kos, among many others...